


Pictures of You, Pictures of Me

by wingsofthenight



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: 5+1 Things, AU- what could have been, Bittersweet, Gen, I cried writing this, so you probably will too, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 17:37:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16179938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsofthenight/pseuds/wingsofthenight
Summary: Five snapshots of the ways the twins could have been... And the one way they were.





	Pictures of You, Pictures of Me

_Pictures of you, pictures of me  
All upon your wall for the world to_   _see  
_ _Pictures of you, pictures of me  
_ _Remind of all of what we could have been_

 _-_ "Pictures of You" by The Last Goodnight

**I**

"Verge!"

That was Vergil's only warning before his twin latched onto him. He sighed. "Dante. I am reading this for class."

"Who cares about class? I want to spar!"

"Mother cares."

He felt Dante wince at that, but he wasn't discouraged as usual. "Still, just take a break bro! Maybe we can come up with some strategies to kick dad's ass when he gets back from his trip!"

He somewhat doubted that, but the idea of figuring out someway to...

He couldn't help but give a small smile at the grin his twin gave him when he set down the book and reached for Yamato.

* * *

**II**

It took weeks for the two of them to stop crying after the attack.

They had both tried to keep it in for the other (Vergil even more so, he was the elder twin, he should be staying strong for his brother),  but they were barely eight, and both of their parents, the people that were supposed to protect them, were gone.

That first long winter, neither of them thought anything about huddling together, neither caring whether it was for warmth or comfort.

Years went by. Vergil focused more on their demonic heritage, Dante on their human side, but together they were able to show the other the good things about both sides of their heritage, rather than either of them focusing only on the bad.

Mistakes were made of course. Somethings were set in stone.

But as Dante easily caught their father's sword when Vergil threw it at him, flying at the demon (he didn't deserve to be called a devil for what he did) that killed their parents with both Rebellion and Sparda outstretched, he couldn't help but not want it any other way.

* * *

**III**

"I'm not going to follow someone that thinks humanity is worthless," Dante spat as he turned and started walking away, masking the hurt he felt at knowing that he really had lost his brother nine years ago.

"Mundus."

He paused at that single word. That name sounded familiar...

"He's the one that father sealed," Vergil started despite him not saying a single word. "He's coming back. It was his men that killed mother and undoubtedly father as well."

Dante didn't say anything for the longest time.

He wasn't surprised by the information. He tried not to remember that night, but he knew a demon general had been there, sent by someone to get rid of Sparda's family. It made too much sense for it to be the demon that their father betrayed.

"...What do you want me to do with this information?" he finally asked, surprised his voice wasn't shaking.

"We need father's power. Once we get it, we can take down Mundus."

"It didn't help dad. Neither of them would want this."

"They're gone." Was that grief he heard in his twin's voice? "We will be too if we don't do anything."

Their parents wouldn't want them to be separated and lose each other either.

Dante finally sighed, turning around to see the hesitant look his twin was trying to hide. "Fine. I'l tell you how stupid your ideas are and make them better."

It lasted barely a split second, but he managed to catch the relieved smile Vergil gave him.

* * *

**IV**

A hand managed to grab his arm as he fell. Vergil instinctively moved to swipe Yamato at him, but froze when he saw the desperate look in Dante's eyes, begging him not to let go. **  
**

He barely felt himself be pulled up- when had his brother gotten so strong?- but the same couldn't be said about the hug he received.

After a moment, he let his arms go around his brother, almost of their own accord.

"We need to go," he finally said after a minute, pulling away, and trying to hide the relief written all over his brother's face.

Dante nodded, hurrying to the portal, grasping Force Edge with one hand- good, he would have given him grief for leaving it after everything they had gone through- and grasping onto his hand with the other, only letting go when they collapsed after exiting the portal.

Vergil knew he had a lot of things to explain. Dante wouldn't accept not getting an answer.

He couldn't bring himself to care. His brother was still alive. He still had family left he had been able to protect.

That's all that mattered to him.

* * *

**V**

Dante tensed as the demon knight- the name Nelo Angelo had popped into his mind for some reason- rose in the air, clutching his head. Another trick? He had been the most difficult thing he'd fought in this damned island after all.

He flinched when the knight screamed, instinctively backing away from the tortured sounds escaping the devil's throat.

It was weird though. The screams were starting to sound  _human._

He flinched again at the blinding light that flashed through the room, barely hearing something hit the floor once it suddenly dimmed.

Dante hesitated even when he figured he could see again, but had to open his eyes when he heard the groan of pain, freezing when he saw who it was.

"...Vergil?" he whispered, scarcely able to believe it.

"Dan... te..." came the pain filled response.

Dante didn't even think about hesitating, not caring if it was one final trap. He didn't care that Vergil looked and smelled like his years in Hell. It was his twin brother, damnit, and screw whoever thought otherwise.

"Shh, you'll be okay, I won't let anything else happen to you," he whispered, letting a few tears slip out as he felt his brother shake against him, clutching onto him as if he'd disappear if he didn't.

Mundus would pay for this.

* * *

**+The way they were**

Dante didn't have any scars. Devil blood took care of that.

That didn't stop him from thinking he could see one on his palm when the memories got to be too much.

And people wondered why he left his gloves on all the time.

**Author's Note:**

> Blame talking about the twins a lot to other people and having ideas when this song came on shuffle. 
> 
> Possibly the most tragic thing about this series is realizing all of the ways that the two of them could have been happy and together as a family, but knowing that things didn't work out that way for various reasons.
> 
> The first one is where Sparda and Eva survived and they grow up as normal as two part devil twins could be. Honestly, this is probably the best timeline for them- they get to keep their family, and they don't have all of this horrible things happen to them. I wish I had been able to make this longer, but sadly the ideas I had involved their parents, and I only wanted the twins to be the characters in this.
> 
> The second one is where they managed to stick together after the attack when they were 8. Like I've implied, things happened, it wasn't all smooth sailing. Quite the opposite, actually. But they manage to get their crap together and defeat Mundus, so it at least ends well.
> 
> The third one... this is the one I can see going bad the easiest. While talking to people, we realized that part of the problem was that Vergil never actually told Dante anything about his plans. Dante probably just assumed that Vergil wanted to take over the human world or something. So this is the one where Vergil actually explains some things. Like I said, this could either go amazing or end horribly. If it works though, I see a lot of bad being averted.
> 
> The fourth, you can all tell where this is from. Like Vergil realizes, he has a lot of things to explain, but Dante won't let go that easily. Fights will happen, but hopefully they actually learn to communicate.
> 
> The fifth is what I wished could have happened in 1. They have a long road ahead of them to say the least, but eventually Vergil should be okay, if with too many scars.
> 
> And the +1... I cried. Why did things have to turn out this way for them...


End file.
